LP103-30 Media, Creative and Cultural Industries
Introductory description
Together with the year 1 module ‘Thinking Culture and Creativity’ this core module aims to introduce key concepts and frameworks which underpin the programme.
Module aims
The primary aim of this module is to define what we mean by the media, creative and cultural industries, using a combination of industry analysis and academic theory to illuminate emerging practices. The module aims to provide students with a broad understanding of the industry structure and to introduce critical academic perspectives on that structure, especially questions or power, identity, ethics, ownership and control.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
The module consists of two overlapping strands - industry structure and critical perspectives.
The 'structure' strand contains five sessions: industry structure; market structure; organisational structures; entrepreneurs, executives, mavericks (positioning participants' practice within the industry structure); culture and values (positioning participants' values and ethos within the industry structure.
The 'critical perspectives' strand also contains five sessions: political economy of the cultural and creative industries; passionate and precarious labour, self branding and network societies; the digitalisation of culture, ethics of the culture industries. The common theme across this part of the module is a reflection on how creative and media practitioners negotiate their position within the industry systems of power and ownership; some individual sessions may be reframed to incorporate current issues and debates (for example effects of pandemic lockdown on creative labour, sustainability and ecological perspective on creative economy).
Students will use their case study to focus on a specific critical issue in the media, creative and cultural industries, and use their assignment to relate the theoretical issue to practical strategies and solutions . The annotated bibliography will allow them to develop their academic research skills in support of the essay assignment.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of different models and definitions of the media, creative and cultural industries
- Demonstrate an understanding of how theories of cultural consumption are manifest in the media, creative and cultural industries
- Demonstrate an understanding of how industry structures and business models influence creative practice in the media, creative and cultural industries
- Demonstrate an understanding of key regulatory and policy paradigms shaping the creative sector
- Gather, interpret and present evidence, with which to analyse political, economic, technological and socio-cultural change in the media, cultural and creative industries
- Reason critically and debate interpretations
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different modes of analysing the creative and media industries
- Communicate what they have learnt, both orally and in writing
Indicative reading list
Doyle, Gillian. 2002. Media Ownership: The Economics and Politics of Convergence in the UK and European Media. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Freedman, Des. 2013. The Politics of Media Policy, Cambridge: Polity.
Hesmondhalgh, David. 2013. The Cultural Industries (3rd edition), Sage.
Kokas, Anney. 2017. Hollywood: Made in China, Oakland: University of California Press.
Merrin, William. 2014. Media Studies 2.0, London: Routledge.
Oakley, Kate and O’Connor, Justin (ed.). 2017. The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries (Routledge).
Thussu, Daya Kissan (et al.) China’s Media Go Global, London: Taylor and Francis.
Subject specific skills
Understanding of different models and definitions of the media, creative and cultural industries
Understanding of how theories of cultural consumption are manifest in the media, creative and cultural industries
Understanding of how industry structures and business models influence creative practice in the media, creative and cultural industries
Understanding of key regulatory and policy paradigms shaping the creative sector
Ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different modes of analysing the creative and media industries
Transferable skills
Ability to gather, interpret and present evidence
Ability to reason critically and debate interpretations
Ability to communicate what students have learnt, both orally and in writing
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 10 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
| Seminars | 10 sessions of 1 hour 30 minutes (5%) |
| Tutorials | 2 sessions of 45 minutes (0%) |
| Practical classes | 1 session of 30 minutes (0%) |
| Private study | 273 hours (91%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
Desk based research, seminar preparation and readings - including preparation for assignments. ('Practical class' above describes formative presentation of case study projects).
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case study | 25% | 15 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
Case Study 1250 words |
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| Annotated bibliography | 25% | 15 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
Annotated bibliography- 1250 words |
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| Essay | 50% | 30 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
2500 words |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback for all assignments will be provided within 20 days of submission deadlines via Tabula. The case study and annotated bibliography will be completed at the end of the first and start of second term respectively. These are both formative and summative assessments ¿ feedback on these assignments will feed into preparation for the final essay via individual tutorials during the second term.
Post-requisite modules
If you pass this module, you can take:
- LP202-15 Media and Cultural Management
- LP302-15 Leading for Innovation
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 1 of ULPA-P301 Undergraduate Media and Creative Industries